A tiger's face commands the right side of this mural in Amarillo, Texas, its orange and black striping rendered in bold relief against the white wall. David Swartz's public art work draws the eye across a horizontal composition where water and aquatic life anchor the composition. Flowing lines of cyan and teal sweep across the facade, carrying pink fish with trailing fins through an aqueous landscape that surrounds the tiger's head.
The mural's visual energy derives from the contrast between the stationary tiger and the kinetic movement of water. Curves ripple and surge across the wall's surface, their fluid arcs punctuated by schools of fish in magenta and coral tones. Even the tiger's tail, visible on the left, curves into these flowing patterns, merging the creature into the surrounding aquatic environment rather than isolating it.
Swartz works in figuration and surrealism, combining naturalistic anatomy with fantastical arrangements. The tiger's facial features—whiskers, eye detail, tooth definition—exhibit careful modeling, while the water dissolves into gestural strokes and splashes. This technique creates visual dialogue between realism and abstraction. Building fixtures interrupt the composition but do not diminish its impact; the mural's scale and color saturation command the wall despite these interruptions.
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